As part of an ongoing effort to attract new businesses to Prince George’s, the County Council is hosting a town hall meeting Thursday to discuss proposals to streamline the county’s permitting process.

Obtaining development-related permits in the county has long been criticized by business leaders and officials for being slow and redundant, making the county less attractive to new businesses than other jurisdictions.

"If we're going to improve economic development here in Prince George's County, we need to have the permit process streamlined," said Council Chairwoman Ingrid Turner (D-Dist. 4) of Bowie.

The meeting will be held at 7 p.m. at College Park City Hall, located at 4500 Knox Road, to inform residents of proposed changes and solicit feedback. Residents can sign up to speak at the meeting when they arrive.

Samuel Wynkoop, director of the county's Department of Environmental Resources, and Carla Reid, deputy chief administrative officer for economic development for County Executive Rushern L. Baker III (D) and public infrastructure, are among the officials scheduled to make presentations and answer questions at the meeting.

The proposed revisions, detailed in a March report by Baker’s transition team, focus primarily on aspects of the permitting process dealing with entitlement, traffic studies, water and sewer issues, and building permits, said Reid. Issues related to electrical, use and occupancy, and event permits will be examined at a later time, she said.

The revisions are projected to shorten the overall permit process by 25 percent.

The proposed process shortens the estimated length of portions of the entitlement phase, when approval for traffic and stormwater management plans occurs, from 38 weeks to 26 weeks by reducing the number of agencies that must review the same document and having some elements of the review process occur simultaneously.

The estimated length of the engineering phase would be reduced from 26 weeks to 20 weeks through similar methods, Reid said.

The overall goal is to create a simplified, more customer-friendly process that would dovetail with Baker's proposed $50 million Economic Development Incentive Fund, intended to provide loans and grants to attract new businesses.

"This is really critical for us," Reid said. "We feel these components together will set us apart from other jurisdictions."

The length of the permitting process has been a problem for the county for years, said M.H. Jim Estepp, president and CEO of the Greater Prince George's Business Roundtable.

"[The process] keeps people away from Prince George's," Estepp said, adding that the planning process can drag on for as long as three years before approvals are given.

This has made developers and investors reluctant to do business in the county, particularly considering the level of uncertainty facing the nation's economy, Estepp said.

"We welcome any attempt to make the process faster," Estepp said.

County officials may be able to begin implementing some changes as early as November, Reid said. The streamlined process would likely be put in place on a trial basis for evaluation before being made permanent by legislation, she said.

dleaderman@gazette.net